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 Keynote Speaker: Jeffrey A. Krames
Jeffrey Krames is the bestselling author of both The Welch Way, The Jack Welch Lexicon of Leadership and What the Best CEOs Know, named the ?Best Leadership books of the year? by Library Journal. His most recent book is Jack Welch and the 4E's of Leadership, How to put GE's Leadership Formula to Work in Your Organization. He is a frequent guest on CNN, CNBC, and Fox News Channel. Mr. Krames has also written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times.
General Sessions
7:00PM - 9:00PM
Room Sheraton 1, 2, 3
National Update
This ever popular general session is an up to the minute analysis of the issues affecting home care and hospice from Congress, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and beyond. Growing Federal budget pressures, the upcoming congressional elections, payment system reforms under Medicare, and increased enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans promise to make 2006 another challenging year. This exciting session, presented annually at the Financial Management Conference, promises to provide the best forecast available of what Washington has in store for home care and hospice.?
Objectives
- Identify current legislative issues affecting home care and hospice.
- Identify current regulatory issues affecting home care and hospice.
- Explain the prognosis for legislative and regulatory action in 2006.
Faculty: Val J. Halamandaris, President, National Association for Home Care & Hospice, Washington, DC; William A. Dombi, Vice President for Law,
National Association for Home Care & Hospice, Home Care & Hospice Financial Managers Association, Washington, DC.
Medicare Reforms: The MedPAC Perspective
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is one of the most powerful and influential bodies in Washington relative to Medicare related matters. MedPAC is an advisory body to Congress and its analysis and recommendations regarding Medicare current payments and future structure are taken very seriously by the Congress and the White House. In its March 2006 report to Congress, MedPAC strongly suggests that Medicare reforms should begin sooner than later as Medicare budgetary pressures are expected to accelerate. This program offers the opportunity to gain an understanding of how MedPAC views the future of Medicare and the place of home care and hospice within it.
Objectives
- Recognize the role MedPAC plays in health care policy making.
- Identify the areas of concern and focus at MedPAC today.
- Describe the perspective of MedPAC regarding the nature of Medicare reforms.
Faculty: Glenn M. Hackbarth, J.D. Chairman, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, Washington, DC (invited).
Course Level: Intermediate; 2.4 Nursing CEs (MNA Approval Pending); 2.0 Accounting CPE (NASBA/SKA)
General Session
9:15AM – 10:55AM
Home Care and Hospice Leadership Panel
Representatives from the diverse world of home care and hospice come together to offer their views on the top three threats and opportunities facing providers today and in the future. This is the opportunity to hear from leaders of small and large organizations, freestanding and institution based, as well as representatives from the consulting and technology world. Panelists will interact with each other and the audience to make this an exciting and dynamic experience.
Objectives
- Identify the major threats and opportunities facing home care and hospice.
- Explain how leaders in home care and hospice are preparing for the future.
- Identify and prioritize steps to undertake as home care and hospice evolves.
Moderator: William J. Simione, Jr., CPA, Chairman, Home Care and Hospice Financial Managers Association, Managing Principal, Simione Consultants, Hamden, CT.
Panelists: Dexter W. Braff, The Braff Group, Pittsburgh, PA; David W. Stasiewicz, CFO, Addus Healthcare, Inc., Palatine, IL; Vern Peterschmidt, Peterschmidt and Associates, Albuquerque, NM; and other representatives of home care and hospice providers.
Course Level: Intermediate; 2.0 Nursing CEs (MNA Approval Pending); 2.0 Accounting CPE (NASBA/SKA)
Concurrent Educational Session
100 Series
11:30AM – 1:10PM
101. Effective Business Planning for New Home Care Initiatives
Business planning is a critical development tool for all organizations regardless of size, industry or life cycle. Business planning is a tool to help organizations choose the best course of action based on research, business experience and forecasted market trends. This workshop is designed to provide agency financial managers with the knowledge and tools to develop and implement an effective business plan to serve as a roadmap for all of its business initiatives.
Objectives
- Describe the benefits of using effective business run practices.
- Describe the business plan in process.
- Identify the four major components of the business plan.
Faculty: Mark Sharp, CPA, BKD, LLP, Springfield, MO; Arnie Burchianti, CEO, Celtic Health Care, Pittsburgh, PA.
Course Level: Intermediate; 2.0 Nursing CEs (MNA Approval Pending); 2.0 Accounting CPE (NASBA/SKA)
102. Achieving and Maintaining Comprehensive Compliance
The legal, ethical, regulatory, and reporting standards that effect the financial management of the health care provider will be discussed in this crucial workshop. The complexities of compliance continue to grow in home care as government payers remain a significant revenue source. However, there are a multitude of compliance obligations that extend to health care businesses beyond those imposed through payment sources. This program will help the home care and hospice community develop and maintain appropriately focused and prioritized compliance processes to avoid having the high cost of non-compliance become a line item in the organization’s budget.
Objectives
- Identify legal, ethical, regulatory and reporting obligations affecting home care and hospice.
- Describe significant risk areas in today’s home care and hospice business activities.
- Recognize effective processes to achieve and maintain compliance.
Faculty: John Richter, Principal-in-Charge, LarsonAllen, Charlotte NC; Gary Massey, LarsonAllen, Charlotte, NC.
Course Level: Intermediate; 2.0 Nursing CEs (MNA Approval Pending); 2.0 Accounting CPE (NASBA/SKA)
Concurrent Educational Sessions
200 Series
2:15PM – 3:55PM
201. Strategic Marketing: Achieve Growth as the Market Shifts
As the home care market changes in coming years, successful agencies will be defined by their market strategy. All too often, executives are distracted by the cost of marketing, the need for immediate review, and the many different pressures competing for attention. With just a few hours of dedicated strategic planning time, a significant reduction in marketing expenditures can be achieved while preparing a business to take a quantum leap forward in the market place. This program offers a step-by-step introduction into “vision-driven marketing,” a method to help businesses locate the most effective path to produce optimal results in the context of the merging home care market realities.
Objectives
- Identify seven simple steps to define a fruitful marketing strategy unique to your agency.
- Recognize what you need to be prepared to begin devising/refining your own marketing strategy in preparing for achieving unprecedented growth.
- Describe a practical method for monitoring the effectiveness of a marketing plan.
Faculty: Heather L. Rooney, President, H2 Marketing, Seattle, WA.
Course Level: Intermediate; 2.0 Nursing CEs (MNA Approval Pending); 2.0 Accounting CPE (NASBA/SKA)
202. Telehealth: Return on Investment, Service Pricing, and Ongoing Financial Management
This program examines the major challenges and successful solutions to capitalize on the telehealth opportunities for home care and to assure a return on the telehealth investment. It is an update from the highly regarded program presented at the 2005 conference, incorporating an addition 2 years of successful experiences in the use of telehealth services. The program provides a proven technique on evaluating and implementing the use of telehealth as an innovative and cost-effective delivery model in a home health agency.
Objectives
- Identify steps necessary to undertake an evaluation of the efficacy of investment in telehealth.
- Describe affected elements of clinical and financial improvement in telehealth.
- Discuss new program management tools and data sharing involved in the use of telehealth.
Faculty: Elaine Bolch, President and CEO, Island Health Care, Inc., Savannah GA; Linda Laff, COO, Island Health Care, Inc., Savannah, GA.
Course Level: Intermediate; 2.0 Nursing CEs (MNA Approval Pending); 2.0 Accounting CPE (NASBA/SKA)
Concurrent Educational Sessions
300 Series
4:10PM – 5:50PM
301. Point of Care Technology: Securing the Benefits
As health care moves towards electronic health records, home care providers and hospices seem to have a head start. One tool increasing in use is point of care technology. This program covers the use of point of care technology, options available in today’s marketplace, methods of evaluation for return on investment, and the integration of point of care information through entire agency operation.
Objective
- Identify existing options available in the market place for point of care technology.
- Explain important considerations in determining point of care return on investment.
- Recognize methods and values in integrating point of care technology throughout an organization’s operation.
Faculty: Suzanne Sblendorio, Simione Consultants, Hamden,CT.
Course Level: Intermediate; 2.0 Nursing CEs (MNA Approval Pending); 2.0 Accounting CPE (NASBA/SKA)
302. Managing and Monitoring Billing Departments
Are you on top of the organization’s billing department performance? The lifeblood for many organizations is timely and accurate billing. This program focuses on billing department structure, billing requirements under Medicare, key areas for reporting, and the resolution process for issues that arise. Both small and large agencies can benefit from the insights offered.
Objectives
- Identify process for appropriately delegating responsibilities to billing department staff.
- Discuss reports required for monthly review.
- Explain clarifications and current edits by Medicare intermediaries.
Faculty: Melinda A. Gaboury, CEO, Healthcare Provider Solutions, Inc., Nashville, TN.
Course Level: Intermediate; 2.0 Nursing CEs (MNA Approval Pending); 2.0 Accounting CPE (NASBA/SKA)
Concurrent Educational Sessions
400 Series
9:00AM – 10:40AM
401. Mergers and Acquisitions: Small to Midsized Agencies
This program offers a top-notched team of a consultant and a provider to discuss mergers and acquisitions involving small to midsized agencies. The program focuses on M&A strategy, processes, valuations, structure and life after the deal. Key elements to consider before entering the M&A process, preparing your agency, valuation parameters, due diligence, integration, key deal issues and other important aspects of how to get a good deal completed are addressed. The market in home care and hospice is hot.
Objectives
- Identify the key elements to consider when entering an M&A process and how to prepare your agency for sale.
- Recognize the criteria that strategic and financial sponsors evaluate in home care transactions.
- Describe the current state of the mergers and acquisitions market and the key components of determining purchase price, along with other important deal issues.
- Identify the important issues of a good due diligence practice in effective integration.
Faculty: Mark L. Francis, Managing Director, Healthcare Investment Banking, Houlihan Lokey Howard Zukin, Dallas,TX; Michael McMaude, COO, TLC (invited).
Course Level: Intermediate; 2.0 Nursing CEs (MNA Approval Pending); 2.0 Accounting CPE (NASBA/SKA)
402. Gearing Up for Medicare Advantage
Medicare’s support for its Medicare Advantage plans is at an all-time high. With increased payment rates intended to encourage territory expansion and accelerate enrollment of Medicare fee for service beneficiaries, today’s Medicare Advantage program is not simply managed care organizations, but also private fee for service plans, medical savings accounts, and preferred provider organizations. This program covers an analysis of the Medicare Advantage marketplace, the rate structures in use in MA plans, rate negotiation issues, and operational adjustments that should be considered when integrating an MA contract into a fee for service operation. Medicare Advantage plans may not fit as a business line for all home care providers. This program provides essential tools to determining whether an MA contract fits and how to take “advantage” of a new business opportunity.
Objectives
- Identify marketplace trends regarding Medicare Advantage enrollment.
- Recognize the options available in devising a payment rate structure for contracted home health services.
- Describe the nature of operational adjustments that may be necessary to properly integrate an MA contract into an existing organization.
Faculty: Robert Simione, Principal, Simione Consultants, Hamden, CT; Kristy Wright, CEO, Visiting Nurse Association of Western Pennsylvania, Butler, PA (invited).
Course Level: Intermediate; 2.0 Nursing CEs (MNA Approval Pending); 2.0 Accounting CPE (NASBA/SKA)
Concurrent Educational Sessions
500 Series
11:00AM – 12:40PM
501. Using A P4P Employee Compensation Program to Control the Incidents of Patient Re-hospitalization
Pay for performance in the Medicare reimbursement system and beyond is in the offing for home health agencies. To achieve success in such a system, incentives must be realigned for all stakeholders. This program highlights the development of a P4P employee compensation structure around a strategic transformation of a home health agency’s delivery system to achieve better patient and business outcomes. Through the use of an internal P4P employee compensation program, an agency can better prepare for the expected changes in home health care reimbursement, through a stunning reduction in re-hospitalization of patients.
Objectives
- Recognize the concept of a pay for performance employee compensation structure.
- Identify methods to align employee compensation incentives with organizational incentives to achieve success in a pay for performance reimbursement model.
- Describe methods employed to implement a pay for performance employee compensation structure.
Faculty: Elaine Bolch, President and CEO, Island Health Care, Inc., Savannah, GA; Pat Laff, President, Laff Associates, Hilton Head, SC.
Course Level: Intermediate; 2.0 Nursing CEs (MNA Approval Pending); 2.0 Accounting CPE (NASBA/SKA)
502. Hospice Panel: Current Issues and Strategies
Hospice services continue to grow exponentially all across the country. Medicare expenditures alone for hospice services are expected to exceed $10 billion by 2007. New hospices are springing up everywhere. These developments trigger a wide range of issues in hospice. Among them are matters related to the open access to patients in nursing facilities, the development of inpatient care programs, the use of pre-hospice services, performance benchmarking, marketing, and organizational expansion and acquisitions. The panel of experts from the provider and consultant community will discuss these matters and more in a highly interactive manner with the hospice audience.
Objectives
- Identify the current trends in the hospice marketplace.
- Describe current challenges facing hospice organizations.
- Recognize the successful strategic steps to advance and expand hospice services in your community.
Faculty: Ted Cuppett, Dixon Hughes PLLC, Clarksburg, WV; Thomas Coombs, Voyager Hospice (invited); Carlos Bosque, CFO, Community Hospice of NE Florida (invited).
Course Level: Intermediate; 2.0 Nursing CEs (MNA Approval Pending); 2.0 Accounting CPE (NASBA/SKA)
General Sessions
Financial Managers Forum
2:15PM – 3:15PM
The traditional conclusion to the annual Financial Management Conference is the open, no-holds barred forum meeting. At this session, the attendees are the participants with any issue discussed at the earlier programs and any other issues of concern open for discussion. It is a great opportunity for attendees to share their insights, gain the advice of the nation’s best consultants, and find out how their colleagues in home care and hospice are addressing concerns. It also is a terrific way to provide input on the priorities of HHFMA and NAHC. Plan on being there and plan on standing up to participate.
Moderator: William A. Dombi, Vice President for Law, National Association for Home Care & Hospice, Executive Director, Home Care & Hospice Financial Managers Association, Washington, DC.
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